More Than It's Worth
by Jaina22
Summary: A Harper story where Gerentex tries to take over the ship. ****COMPLETE****
1. Take Over

Harper woke up suddenly aware that he was shivering.  
What the hell? He thought thickly.  
"Rommie, what's the temperature in my room?" He asked and was surprised to hear no reply. "Rommie?"  
There was still no answer. Harper turned his head and looked at his clock.  
"One o-clock in the morning and there's already a problem that needs my genius expertise. I can't even get an hour of sleep around here."  
The deck plates were like ice and Harper jumped up and down as he pulled on a pair of socks. He was dressed in his boxers and a white T-shirt and the cold air bit his bare skin. He walked to his door and opened it and was even more astonished to find that it was colder out in the hall than it was in his room. He rubbed his hands together in a desperate attempt to create some warmth by the friction.  
"Rommie!" Harper yelled as he made his way to command, getting very frustrated. "If this is some joke..."  
  
Dylan awoke to someone yelling his name.  
"Dylan! Dylan!" It was Beka.  
"Uh...?" Was all he could manage.  
"Dylan, I advise you get up. The ship has been taken over." Tyr's voice cut in.  
It took a minute for the words to sink in, but when they did Dylan forced his eyes open and sat up. Trance, Beka, Tyr, Rev, and Rommie were in the same room with him. A locked room, he realized glumly.  
"Are you okay?" Trance asked.  
"Yeah, I think so." Dylan replied as he ran his hands over his body, checking for injuries.  
"Stupid Gerentex! Stupid Nietzcheans!" Beka yelled as she helped Dylan stand up.  
They were all in quite a tough spot. The Nightsider and his "friends" had somehow disabled the Andromeda's systems and captured the crew. Dylan had been knocked out cold when he'd been trying to defend himself. The back of his head still throbbed. Dylan knew the High Guard protocol for capture, and it was reflex to put it in play.   
"Everyone sound off," Dylan said. "Captain, here."  
"First officer...here, although I've seen better days."  
"Weapons officer."  
"Medical and Environmental officer, present."  
"Navigation and sensors officer, here."  
There was a slight pause as everyone realized their cocky genius wasn't among them.   
"Where's Harper?" Beka asked, concerned.   
No one knew what to say. They'd only been in the room a few minutes, but they hadn't even realized he was gone.  
  
Harper finally arrived at the door to command. His body was trembling with cold and he could see his breath in the air. It reminded him of winter on Earth and he hated it. He had this odd sense of fear he couldn't shake, as if he was in danger. He used to get that on Earth a lot, too. He opened the door and his eyes bugged out when he saw 3 Nietzcheans and a Nightsider...Gerentex! Harper whirled around and started to run when 2 other Nietzcheans blocked his escape. They'd been following him.  
"I, uh, don't suppose you guys are here on a proposition for the Commonwealth? No?" Harper joked.  
"Shut him up! I don't have the patience for him right now," Gerentex yelled.  
Harper was about to make some quip when the Nietzchean nearest to him smacked him across the side of the head with the handle of a gun. Harper crumpled to the ground as everything went black.   
  
Dylan studied the room they were being held in. There was a small bed on one side, a table with a few chairs on the other, and a sink next to the table. He knew they weren't on the Andromeda and that thought alone stunned him. The attack had been quick and precise, as if it'd be thoroughly planned. What Gerentex wanted was anyone's guess because none of their captors had come back. The crew had tried to preoccupy themselves as the reality of their situation had set in. They had nothing else to do but wait.  
Beka and Tyr were arguing over something, Rev was praying, Dylan was standing off by himself, and Trance and Rommie were talking softly over in the corner. The air was thick with tension.  
"Rommie how could this happen?" Dylan asked.  
"I'm not sure, but I think my system may have been hacked into. My sensors were blinded, I couldn't sense the ship, and I wasn't aware we were being boarded until it was too late. By then, my defenses had been taken out and I only had partial control of my key systems. I couldn't stop them Dylan, I'm sorry." Was Rommie's saddened reply. She felt guilty. She'd let her crew and Captain down.  
"Rommie, how could they hack into your system without you being aware of it?" Beka asked, confused.  
"I don't know. The last thing I recall being out of the ordinary was a distant power surge. Then I think they hacked in and blinded my sensors so that when I did a sweep of that area I didn't pick them up."  
"If it was just a power surge that caused this is there any way you can regain control from here?" Trance asked.  
Rommie closed her eyes for a second, "I could...try."  
"Well try away. It couldn't hurt." Beka said angrily.  
Rommie closed her eyes again, her brow furrowed in concentration.  
"I don't mean to discredit our genius plan but perhaps we should try to explore other possibilities on how we're going to get out of here," Tyr said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.  
"Tyr's right," Rev spoke up. "We need, as Harper would say, a plan B."  
Everyone fell quiet at the mention of the young engineer's name. They all knew Gerentex strongly disliked Harper, and possibilities of what could have happened played across everyone's mind.  
"I apologize," Rev said, realizing he shouldn't have mentioned their missing comrade.  
"Maybe they haven't got him yet," Trance said hopefully. "Maybe he's trying to rescue us."  
No one said anything.  
"It was just a thought," She mumbled.  
  
Harper was vaguely aware of voices, a severe pounding in his head, and the feeling of being shaken. The longer the shaking went on the more aware he became.  
"Wake-up!" Someone yelled.  
So loud, Harper thought. Where am I?  
"Open your eyes you little brat!" The voice was oddly familiar. "If you idiots gave him brain damage I'm taking it out of your pay!"  
Brain damage? Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, my head!  
"Harper! Get up! Get up so you can fix the ship!"  
Ship? The Andromeda! Dylan?  
His eyes snapped open and he stared straight at the Nightsider face.  
Gerentex! Harper cursed himself. Well, at least he stopped shaking me.  
"Get up and fix the ship! I'm losing money!" Gerentex yelled, inches from Harper's face.  
This is like a really, really bad hangover, He thought. But instead of giving into weakness he brushed it aside and started his annoying I'm-a-genius-and-I-don't-care-what-you-want act.  
"Yeah, well, you still owe me 84 thousand thrones, and have you ever heard of a mint because your breath really isn't cutting it!"  
Gerentex's eyes scrunched down and his mouth got smaller. "Either fix the ship now or pay the price and then have to fix it later."  
"How about none of the above," Harper said simply.  
"That's it! I was just going to steal your ship and the Mad Perseid's diary, leave you all with some money on some backwater planet and make my way to Tarn Vedra."  
Harper knew from experience that whenever an evil guy who was holding you hostage said was, it normally wasn't a good thing, because it meant it was going to get worse for the hostage.  
"But now," Gerentex continued. "I'm going to take your ship, take the diary, and drop you off with no money on the backwater planet...after you fix the ship of course, which you'll do after my friends here have their fun."  
Yep, it just got worse. A lot worse. Harper's eyes went wide, "The?"  
"I think you know what I'm talking about Harper, you grew up there. I'm going to drop you and your friends off on Earth."  
"Your puny threats don't scare me," Harper yelled as he regained his composure. "You'll never get there. Dylan's too smart for you, and so am I! We'll have our ship back and you'll be dead before the Andromeda even gets close to the system!"  
"Take him away! I think our little friend needs to be taught a lesson."  
Harper struggled to get away as the Nietzcheans led him to their ship. He knew what "fun" meant for Nietzcheans and he didn't want any part of it at all. But he didn't dare give up. He realized he was outnumbered and outmuscled, but he was not outsmarted. He was going to get Gerentex back, and he was going to do it smart. As soon as he figured out a plan, of course.  



	2. Inferiority Issue

As the Nietzchean thugs led Harper into their ship the young engineer looked over the surroundings. There were lots of doors and he tried to count them, so if he escaped he'd know how to backtrack to the Andromeda. All the while his mind was whirling as he tried to think of what to do, what Dylan would do. Or Beka, or Tyr, or Rev, hell, even Trance. But no genius ideas sprung to mind. He knew his friends would fight their way out if they were in his position, but Harper was a strong believer in self- preservation, and although he didn't think they'd kill him since they needed him to fix the ship, he wasn't sure enough to risk his life without a plan. As passed a door to his left he noticed light slipping through under the crack and he could hear muffled voices, familiar voices and his eyes went wide as a plan concocted itself in his head. He knew exactly what to do and a smile tugged on his lips.  
  
"You'll never win," Harper said angrily. "I'm gonna kick every single one of your Nietzchean asses!"  
  
Harper gritted his teeth and closed his eyes shut at the blow he knew he was about to receive. Sure enough a fist connected the side of his face, right where he'd been hit earlier. He felt his body fall backwards onto the ground and stars danced before his eyes.  
  
"What'd you say boy?" The biggest Nietzchean growled.  
  
"You heard what I said," Harper spat, hoping he wasn't signing his death warrant. "I'm going beat you. Ya wanna know why? Because I'm better, smarter, superior to you!"  
  
Harper knew exactly how to piss a Nietzchean off and this time the he got it smack in the chest and was sure he felt ribs crack. But he was lying right in front of the door his friends were being held captive in. The plan was working. He struggled to get to his feet. The Nietzchean just stared as the shorter man got up and leaned against the wall for support.  
  
"You? Superior to me? It does not appear that is so."  
  
Harper was almost there, but in order for his plan to work he had to push his attacker so close to the edge the Nietz would become cocky and careless. That also meant Harper would have to portray himself to be weak, while he tried desperately to remain stoic on the inside. Then, when the time was right and the bully was distracted he'd strike.  
  
"You were obviously inferior to the rest of your pride," Harper said. He knew the only Nietzcheans that were mercenaries were Nietzcheans who had been banished from their pride. Tyr used to be mercenary, but his case had been uniquely different.  
  
Harper knew he'd hit a nerve when the brute smashed him against the wall, snarling. As the air was forced from his lungs he felt the back of his head smack something solid and his vision slightly blurred. Harper felt his body crumple to the floor, but immediately pushed himself to his knees. He was not going to, and would not lose.  
  
Inside the confines of the room Dylan, Beka, Tyr, Rommie, Rev and Trance listened to the two distinct voices outside their door. They knew Harper was one of them, but couldn't make out clearly what either was saying. They'd heard the thuds and knew some kind of fight was going on, which was definitely not good for Harper's sake.  
  
"Andromeda can you make out what they're saying?" Rev asked.  
  
"They're having some argument over who's inferior to whom. I think Harper's…I think Harper's losing."  
  
"Well that's a surprise." Tyr said blandly as he sat on a chair, the only one not crowded by the door.  
  
"Tyr can you at least try to be optimistic, for once!" Beka yelled.  
  
"Shhh," Dylan hushed them.  
  
Harper couldn't believe it. The plan was going great. He was right next to the door release, and all he needed was for the stupid Nietzchean to look away for one second and he'd be able to free his friends. He knew exactly how to do that too. Nietzcheans were notorious for boasting, and if he thought he'd defeated Harper the idiot would turn his back to brag to his friends and they'd be distracted as well. It wouldn't be that hard to do, it'd just take one more hit for it to be believable. Harper just had to stay conscious that long.  
  
"Now what do you have to say for yourself?" The Nietzchean asked.  
  
"You sound like my mother," Harper said.  
  
This brought a laugh to the genetically engineered man.  
  
Hit me, Harper thought. Hit me one more time.  
  
"I hate being compared to humans!" The laugh turned evil and Harper braced himself as the Nietzchean punched him square on the side of the head. Harper's knees went out from under him and he slid down the wall. His head was swimming and black haziness took over his vision. He watched the world tip and turn. He watched the Nietzchean he'd been fighting turn around triumphantly to his comrades, saw them laugh together. He felt his hand slide up the wall in slow motion, not even really aware of what he was doing, only aware that it had to be done. He felt his fingers hit the button, the one that made the door next to open with whoosh. And he smiled as the five shocked Nietzcheans turned to see what was going on, surprise evident on their faces.  
  
"You don't have to be stronger," Harper wheezed out as his friends ran out the now open door. "Just…smarter."  
  
Then he succumbed to blissful unconsciousness as the tendrils of blackness around his vision enveloped him. The last thing he heard was blaster fire and the feeling of being lifted. 


	3. Problems?

Trance, Rev, Tyr, Rommie, Beka and Dylan, with Harper slung over his shoulder, ran for their lives. None of them knew where they were going, they just knew that there were 5 Nietzcheans with guns chasing them. That was enough to scare anyone. Somehow, however, they managed to elude their attackers and find the door that led back to the Andromeda.  
  
As soon as they were out of the unfamiliar ship Tyr tore off the door's control console and ripped all the wires inside, making it near impossible for anyone to open.  
  
"That should hold them for awhile," He remarked dryly.  
  
"Brrr, Rommie why is it so cold?" Trance asked, teeth chattering.  
  
"I think my system may be malfunctioning, but I'm not sure."  
  
"We're not in any danger are we?" Beka asked.  
  
"No."  
  
"Okay, so where do we go now?"  
  
"Engineering," Dylan remarked. "I want the Andromeda back under our control."  
  
The group set off, making a stop at a weapons locker on the way.  
  
Harper slowly awoke to a throbbing pain that shot from his head to his chest and a coldness that seemed to seep into every pore of his body. He didn't dare open his eyes though; for fear that he had been recaptured. But as the haziness from sleep started to wear off he heard familiar voices.  
  
"I don't know how to fix it! I don't even know what the problem is! Besides, my fingers are starting to go numb!" Beka yelled.  
  
Someone Harper couldn't identify sighed, probably Dylan.  
  
"Well, we know everything still functions except for the environmental temperature. It's just a matter of figuring out why we don't have control." Dylan stated. He made it sound so easy, as if the solution would just pop right out and present itself. He could do that, make the most complex plans and the hardest problems sound simple. It was one of the traits Harper admired about him.  
  
"Ya, but what I'm telling you is that I have no clue how to do that!"  
  
"Have you been able to figure anything out yet Rommie?"  
  
"Dylan I'm going to have to concur with Beka. I don't know what's wrong or why I can't see it. Whoever hacked in must have been good." The avatar replied. Harper could hear the stress in her voice, the voice he had programmed, the stress he had allowed her to feel.  
  
"Maybe there's a crossed wire?" Trance asked innocently.  
  
"I highly doubt that the solution is that simple." Tyr, the Mr. Tough Guy Nietzchean said.  
  
Harper figured he could find out what the problem was if he could get into Rommie's mainframe. But that meant he'd have to get up and although he was pretty sure he could, the pain that would be involved…he suppressed a groan at the thought.  
  
"Harper?" Trance's voice asked.  
  
Oh way to go Einstein, He thought to himself. "Huh?"  
  
He heard the thud of footsteps by his head.  
  
"Harper, open your eyes." Dylan said.  
  
Harper felt someone pulling on his eyelids and figured he might as well open them. When he did he had to blink repeatedly before they focused on the blurry figures. He was lying on the floor. Dylan was kneeling at his left, Trance at his right, and the others had made a circle around him. All except Tyr, of course. He was standing off to the side, pretending not to care.  
  
"Hey," Harper asked meekly. "Problems?"  
  
Trance gave Dylan a look that spoke volumes.  
  
"Nothing you need to concern yourself with right now." Dylan replied.  
  
"Yeah, but you know me." It was now or never. Harper grabbed a hold of Dylan's shoulder and quickly pulled himself up. His whole chest flared in refusal, but he made it.  
  
"Well that was easier than I thought," He said under his breath, once he was on his feet.  
  
Just then a wave of dizziness hit him and he had to lay his hand on Trance's arm while his head cleared. After it had passed he was struck with an uncanny thought.  
  
"Harper?" Beka asked, concerned.  
  
"I'm okay," He assured everyone. "Just get me to a port so I can hook up. I think I might have an idea what Gerentex did."  
  
Dylan draped Harper's arm around his neck and slowly led him to the other side of the room, where the younger man could connect with the Andromeda.  
  
Harper's head pounded as he entered Andromeda's VR matrix. Once inside he looked over the streams of data and the pieces of the puzzle started to fit. He knew exactly what Gerentex had done and the simplicity at what he had to do to fix it almost made him laugh out loud. It'd only take a few minutes, all he had to do was reset a code, one that was very easy to override. He also had a pretty good idea why the environmental system was malfunctioning, and if he was right that'd be easy to fix too. Harper left VR to tell his crewmates what he'd found.  
  
"Do you know what's wrong?" Dylan asked as Harper opened his eyes.  
  
"Yeah, and it should be really easy to fix," Was the engineer's reply.  
  
"When we first boarded the Andromeda with Gerentex I think he put a safety in. A code, so he could override the Andromeda. When he got close enough in his ship he activated it. The only problem was it hadn't ever been used and the extra charge through the wires shorted one out…the environmental temperature regulator. That's why it's so cold in here."  
  
"I guess that makes sense," Beka said. "But why didn't Gerentex use it before? I mean if he had this code, why didn't he just take over the Andromeda instead of trying to push her in a black hole?"  
  
"Probably because the Andromeda wasn't functioning well enough to take anything over."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"How long will it take to fix?" Dylan asked.  
  
"Five minutes or so to rewrite the command code."  
  
"Do it."  
  
"Yes sir, boss man." Harper said wearily as he plugged back in.  
  
Back in VR Harper walked along a long line of data, hitting a few strands here and there, checking for where the code was imbedded exactly. When he finally found it he noticed a blue-like film over it.  
  
"That's weird…" He said to himself.  
  
Harper ticked it a few times with his fingers and watched as the blueness wavered. There was also an odd tingling in his fingers. He pressed his hand hard against it and felt a jolt run through his body. He instantly recoiled.  
  
"It's like some sort of safety mechanism, or lock."  
  
He knew he wouldn't be able to change the whole number, there was no way he could keep his hand in there long enough. But he could change the first 2 digits in the number. That'd be enough to give Rommie full control of her systems, and lock Gerentex out.  
  
Harper braced himself as he slammed his arm through. He felt the current of electricity flow through his body and had to forcibly keep himself from jumping back. Through gritted teeth he touched the first number and changed it to a 5, then he touched the second number and changed it from a 9 to a 2. The last thing he saw was the number that was now 527993654210. Then he felt a hot, intense, sharp pain as his mind was ripped back to reality.  
  
********************  
  
This is an old story and last time I wrote the ending really fast, so I think I might extend it for fun. Oh yah, I changed my settings so I can accept anonymous reviews. Love hearing from ya. Thanks. ; ) 


	4. Motive

"Owww!" Harper gasped as he ripped his connector out and waves of pain rolled over him. "That was not nice."  
  
"Are you okay? What the hell happened?" Beka asked as she helped him up from the cold floor.  
  
The engineer rubbed his port tenderly as he slowly made his way over to the computer. "That rat put a mega safety over his hack, and believe me I'm not talking about those little safe guards. This sucker is a major, super encrypted security shield. And it's all for one teeny tiny little code, consisting of 12 numbers to be precise."  
  
Harper's fingers were now flying furiously over the console in front of him as he tried to get some reaction out of code he'd changed. "I don't get it…."  
  
"What?" Dylan asked. He, Beka, and Rommie were crowed around their resident genius trying to make sense out of what he was saying.  
  
"I changed the encryption code when I was in the VR matrix, but it's not showing up out here. Rommie should have complete control by now…"  
  
Rommie frowned, "I don't detect any change."  
  
"What?! That's impossible!"  
  
Harper adjusted his attention to the floor as he thought. Why had Gerentex needed him to fix the ship? The rat wouldn't have tried to hijack the Andromeda unless he was sure he'd have control of her. The hack Harper had destroyed hadn't been even been dissecting any programs, which meant it hadn't been what had taken the ship offline, but there hadn't been anything else. So what was keeping the Andromeda dead in space, and cold?  
  
"I have a question," Beka interrupted his trail of thinking. "Why does Gerentex want the ship anyways? The only reason he salvaged it last time was for the nova bombs, but we don't have any on board now, so what exactly is his motive?"  
  
Harper's head snapped up and he looked at Dylan. They both exchanged a knowing glance.  
  
"He knows," Dylan said.  
  
"What are you talking about?" Beka was bewildered, and whenever that happened, she got mad. "What's going on?!"  
  
The engineer looked at the door, looked at Dylan, and looked at the door again, his body language pleading that Dylan let him go.  
  
The starship captain nodded, "Do it."  
  
Harper flew to the door.  
  
"Hey!" Beka yelled.  
  
He was out of there before anyone could say anything more.  
  
****************************************  
  
I'm changing the whole ending and I'm probably going to end up making it a lot longer. It's actually really hard to remember where I had been going with this before and getting back into writing for it hasn't been easy. So if these next couple chapters are a little off bear with me until I get back on track. Thanks ; ) 


	5. Dissimulation

Harper tiptoed quietly along the freezing cold deck of Andromeda. By now he'd almost completely lost all sense of feeling in his body. The throbbing in his head and the burning in his lungs hadn't subsided but it wasn't as sharp. In fact, none of his senses seemed very sharp. The sounds around him seemed to reverberate inside his head and everything he saw was slightly fuzzy at the edges.  
  
"M-m-must b-be the c-c-c," He started saying to himself but stopped abruptly when he realized that Nietzcheans could be anywhere. The last thing he wanted was for them to know he was coming and be ready to attack. The thought of another brute assault caused an involuntary shiver to run down his spine, whether it was from the cold that penetrated his very being or just the imagery of his blood being spilled all over Andromeda's clean corridors, he didn't know.  
  
I gotta get to Machine Shop 5 before my legs stop listening to me, Harper thought to himself. I need to jettison that bomb…  
  
  
  
"What the hell is going on here?" Beka yelled.  
  
The only reply she got was from Tyr, who was less than happy with her outburst, "I think everyone should shut-up. In case you've all forgotten, we're trapped on a ship that's dead in space and there are probably Dragans searching for us at this very moment… angry Dragans. Now I suggest we all be very quiet or at least get to a place that would give us a tactical advantage should we be searched out.  
  
"Tyr's right," Dylan said before anyone could argue. "It's not safe here."  
  
"I'll go scope it out," Rommie said as she slipped quietly out the door. This was the last straw for Beka. Everyone seemed to have their own agenda and she didn't like not knowing each individual one.  
  
Beka ran up to the captain, grabbed his shirt collar, and slammed him against the wall. "Hold on just one second! We're going to leave now? How's Harper going to know where to find us when he comes back? Where did he go Dylan? Where'd you send him? I want to know!"  
  
"Yes, where did you send the kludge? I hope for our sake it wasn't anywhere far because he may be the only one on this ship that knows how to fix the mess we're all in." Tyr's patience were wearing thin and he planned on surviving the encounter, with or without the rest of the crew.  
  
"He went to fix a mistake I made." Dylan gasped as Beka pressed the clenched hand that was holding part of his uniform into his windpipe.  
  
"What mistake?" She asked.  
  
Instead of answering, Dylan's face turned red and he made desperate choking sounds.  
  
"Stop!" Trance yelled "Stop it all of you!"  
  
Surprisingly, everyone froze. Beka even released Dylan, who fell on his hands and knees clutching his throat and forcing air into his lungs.  
  
"We'll never get out of this unless we work together. The only thing fighting's going to do is aid in our recapture. Now, I think we should all put our head together and make a plan."  
  
Tyr nodded in agreement, more to himself than anything. Beka even helped Dylan off the floor as an apology.  
  
"We can't figure anything out until we know what's already happening," Tyr hinted.  
  
Beka's angry façade slipped away and a worried expression replaced it. "Dylan, where's Harper?"  
  
It was then that Rommie chose to return from her short scouting trip. She was somewhat startled by Dylan's appearance. "It's clear for now. Did I miss something?" She reported and at the same time wondered what could have occurred during her absence. Ah, the pleasures of multi-tasking.  
  
"Captain Hunt was just about to tell us where he sent the little professor… Wasn't he?"  
  
Still regaining his composure, Dylan answered slightly winded. "He's disposing of something."  
  
"What?" Beka demanded.  
  
Dylan locked eyes with Beka as he said softly, "He left to go get rid of the nova bombs I have on board." 


	6. Nova Bombs?!

"Nova bombs! You have nova bombs onboard?!" Beka yelled.  
  
For once in his life, Tyr was rendered speechless.  
  
"Yes. Harper made them for me, right after we encountered the worldship. I thought it'd be a good idea to be prepared in case of more Magog attacks." Dylan said, as if his logic explained everything.  
  
After the initial shock wore off, Tyr got his voice back. "You, you put all of our lives in danger in preparation for something that never happened?"  
  
"I thought it was a wise idea at the time. I wasn't counting on us being boarded for them later."  
  
Tyr took a few deep breathes, in evident anger, before replying, "I've been on a ship with hand made nova bombs. Bombs that could've gone off at any time and killed me, effectively ruining my chances of procreating."  
  
"Well Tyr, it's not all about sex."  
  
Trance and Rommie burst out laughing. Beka's mouth even twitched slightly at the unDylan-like comment. Tyr didn't think it was that funny.  
  
"You can all laugh while our lone engineer is out in this frozen hunk of metal trying to save all our asses. However, I don't see anything funny about it."  
  
This wiped the smirk off Beka's face. "We have to do something Dylan. We can't just sit around like this and wait for Harper to succeed or fail, besides, it's freezing."  
  
"You're right," Dylan said as he made his way to the door. "Tyr and Beka, you're with me. Rommie, Rev, and Trance, I want you to get to command and see if you can do something about this little control issue we're still having."  
  
Rommie looked slightly disappointed but agreed and left.  
  
"Alright Tyr, Beka, shall we?" Dylan asked and motioned to the door.  
  
"After you," Beka said as she took out her blaster and made sure it was fully powered.  
  
All three of them walked stealthily to Machine Shop 5, weapons in hand. They were prepared for a fight, but none of them figured they'd lose. 


	7. Success, Threats, and Absolution

Harper staggered to the door of Machine Shop 5. His body was beyond freezing and had become dull numbness. Sounds he heard still seemed to echo and his eyesight wasn't up to par but the jaunt from engineering had gotten the blood circulating through his veins. As he hit the door release button it swished open, chilling him even more.  
  
The nova bombs were still there. None of them had been touched since the last time Harper had seen them. The nearest automated airlock was over a hundred meters away and he didn't think he was up to hauling each individual one there. Instead, he carefully and permanently disabled each bomb before walking back outside and sealing the door. Harper would normally be able to vent any room in the Andromeda by merely asking Rommie herself, but this time he'd have to do everything the old fashioned way, by hand.  
  
The first thing Harper had to do was jump-start the side panel next to the door. It only took a shredded wire and a flick of the wrist before the lighted controls were functioning again. Having no time to display his handy work, the engineer took out an override board, or hack pack, as Harper liked to call it. Once the hack pack was plugged into the wall all he had to do was push a few buttons on it in order to override any safeties, firewalls, passwords, and locking mechanisms. Doing exactly that, the panel was at his disposable in under a minute.  
  
'Here goes nothing,' Harper thought to himself as he enabled the venting controls.  
  
There was a click and a whoosh, followed closely by a hissing sound, signaling the start and completion of the venting process. Once it was over, Harper sunk to the ground with his head in his hands. He hadn't realized how absolutely tired he was until now. Just thinking about sleep, he was about to drift off when something jerked him up. Opening his eyes, he saw five guns pointed directly at his face. The owners of those guns were Nietzcheans, Gerentex's employees.  
  
"Where are they?" The closest uber growled.  
  
"I don't know what you're talking about," Harper replied as calmly as he could.  
  
"I'm talking about the nova bombs! I know you know where they are, now tell me before I blow your head off!"  
  
"They've just been released into the nearest neighboring sun. If you really want them, however, I won't shed a tear if you try to retrieve them. In fact, I bet you as a crispy brown could get a million wives."  
  
"I don't think I like you."  
  
"That's probably the only thing that we have in common."  
  
The Nietzchean smiled and said, "Time to die, kludge."  
  
Harper closed his eyes as he felt the barrel of a gun touch his forehead. Although he'd never truly believed he began to silently pray to God, hoping he'd end up with his parents and friends in the afterlife, if there even was one. 


	8. Daiven

"Drop the human," Tyr said menacingly. He, Dylan, and Beka had just made it to Machine Shop 5 and been greeted by the site of a Nietzchean mob surrounding Harper. One of the larger ones was holding their engineer up by his neck with a rather large gun held to his head. Tyr's gun was trained on that Nietzchean and that Nietzchean alone. "Let him go or I'll kill you where you stand!"  
  
Most humans would have just shrugged Tyr's words off as a threat. Nietzcheans weren't human though. They spent most of their time perfecting their genes, marrying, having children, fighting, and of course practicing wise self-preservation techniques to lengthen their lives. One of those techniques kicked it right then and the Nietzchean holding Harper dropped him to the ground in a heap. The gun that had just been pointed at the human's head was now pointed directly at Tyr's.  
  
"I am Daiven of the Dragan Pride, out of Weinst, by Haleya."  
  
Tyr sneered and quipped, "Am I supposed to be quivering in fear? Leave this ship or die."  
  
"It doesn't look like you're in any position to be making those threats," Daiven said, his gun still trained on Tyr.  
  
Harper, being totally forgotten about at the moment, had quietly crawled to a position behind the five Nietzcheans that had held him captive. Tyr had been watching him out of the corner of his eye and was waiting for the little professor to get up and take aim. He figured that if Harper fired on two ubers with their backs turned and he, Dylan, and Beka fired in unison with the first shot, they'd be able to take down all their enemies. Harper had made it to his feet and was just taking his gun out of his holster when a gravelly voice whispered in his ear, "Freeze."  
  
For what felt like the millionth time that day, a gun barrel was being pressed into Harper's side. He was really starting to get sick of it. The ubers seemed to like to throw their weight around, but they seemed to like to throw their guns around even more.  
  
"It seems I've been seeing a lot of you lately," that same voice said. Harper gritted his teeth as he recognized whom it belonged to.  
  
"Gerentex."  
  
"This whole little escapade has become a lot more than it's worth, don't you agree?"  
  
"Yah, so why don't you just let me go?" Harper was not in the mood to humor his former employer. "We let *you* go last time."  
  
"And that was a mistake on your part. A mistake I'm not going to make. Get it?" Gerentex pressed the gun he was holding even harder into the engineer's injured ribs, causing a hiss of pain. "Buh bye Harper. I wish I could say it's been a pleasure knowing you, but then I'd be lying. Actually, I'm going to enjoy this quite a bit."  
  
By now, Beka, Tyr, and Dylan could see Harper wasn't going to be much help to them and that their plan wasn't going to be coming into play. With Gerentex seemingly distracted Tyr did one of the things he was best at, he fired. 


	9. Like A Son

Harper gasped as he heard a gunshot, thinking that the rat had actually gone through with it. He hadn't, luckily. The sound had been Tyr shooting the Daiven guy. The Nietzcheans ran past Gerentex and to the corner where the corridor turned, hoping it would shield them. The three members of the Andromeda crew did the same, scrambling to take cover behind the opposite corridor corner. Seeing Beka, Tyr, and Dylan running with their backs almost completely turned was too enticing for Gerentex to let go. He took aim at Dylan and was just going to pull the trigger when Harper elbowed him right in the chin. Gerentex fell backwards and Harper took the opportunity to try to run to the safety of his friends. He had just made it past the bend when a shot whizzed by his head.  
  
"That was too close," Harper said when he say the shocked expression on Beka's face.  
  
"I'd say," Was all she had time to say before the barrage of fire began.  
  
At first, things were looking up for the crew. They had taken out two of their six opponents so it was now a level playing field and the stream of opposing fire had seemed to die down quite a bit.  
  
"They're up to something," Harper said, thinking it had slowed so much it had become suspicious.  
  
Dylan frowned, "Maybe we hit more than two."  
  
"Nuh-uh, they'd be gone then. Self preservation, remember? The 'If you can't win a fight don't try' attitude."  
  
It was then that the firing stopped.  
  
There was just enough time for Beka to lower her gun an inch or so and say, "What the?" before bombardment began, only this time it was on both sides.  
  
"They split up," Tyr grunted as he slammed himself against the wall, hoping for some sort of protection.  
  
Beka looked to her left and then to her right, seeing that they were surrounded with no place to go she started to talk fast, "It's been a pleasure working as your first officer Dylan. I've had a great time and like I said before, I wouldn't have missed it for the world."  
  
Receiving only a nod and a whispered thanks in return, she continued, "Well Mr. Tough Guy, it's been nice knowing ya and I actually mean it for once. If you somehow make it out of here and I don't, I hope you get that wife you've thought about and have all those kids I know you're dreaming of."  
  
Tyr was nowhere near as submissive as his captain, "I think you should shut- up and start fighting so we can *all* get out of here."  
  
Taking the hint, Beka fired off a couple more volleys before returning to her good-byes. "You know you've always been like a son to me right?"  
  
"Ya boss," Harper said, his voice breaking.  
  
Beka turned and put her free hand to his cheek, wiping away a stray tear with her thumb. "You've had a hard life kiddo, but by some miracle you always seem to get by. If we can't make it this time, I want you to remember that I love you."  
  
"I love you too," He whispered, his blue eyes rimmed with tears and a weak smile on his lips. He could still remember the day he signed on with Beka. It had been one of the happiest days of his life and he'd always felt safe afterwards. Even though everything looked hopeless and he would more than likely die, he felt safe because he was with Beka. Looking into her eyes, he realized it'd always been that way and now wasn't any different. He wasn't scared anymore because he knew they were going to be okay, somehow he just knew. "We're gonna make it Beka. I promise."  
  
"If you two would quit with the waterworks, we just might be able to get out of here!" Tyr yelled over the noise.  
  
Beka smiled softly at her engineer before she had to take her hand away and start shooting again. It still looked completely hopeless. The Nietzcheans and Gerentex were closing in on all sides and the only thing they could do was try to flatten their bodies against the wall. The shower of gunfire had become almost incessant and the smoke rising up around them made it impossible to see a target.  
  
"The lord is my shepherd I shall not want, he makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside still waters, he restores my soul for his name sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I fear no evil for thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff they comfort me…" Harper had his eyes squeezed shut and was uttering a barely audible prayer when he heard a beautiful sound.  
  
**********  
  
A spray of overhead fire dropped 2 Nietzcheans dead and held the others at gunpoint. Tyr, Beka, Dylan, and Harper all breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that the internal defenses had come back online. They all looked expectantly at Harper but he just shook his head, having had no part in the sudden change.  
  
"Do you want me to finish them off Dylan?" Andromeda's hologram asked when she fizzled into existence, shocking everyone.  
  
"Andromeda are you fully functional?" Dylan asked, surprise evident on his face.  
  
She nodded and restated, "Do you want me to commence firing?"  
  
"No," Dylan said, his voice getting louder as he regained his confidence. "Everyone drop their weapons and walk to the nearest escape pod. If you try anything, you'll be shot."  
  
The clatter of guns could be heard as the Nietzcheans dropped their weapons and slowly began to walk away, guns trained on them at all times.  
  
"Oh Rom doll, I could kiss you! Hey, maybe I will! Where's your avatar?" Harper said as he ran up to the hologram, clearly only running on adrenaline.  
  
"Harper!" She yelled.  
  
"I'm just kidding babe."  
  
"No Harper, look out!"  
  
Acting purely on instinct, Harper dove to the right. In his experiences, someone who wanted to kill someone else would aim either at the head or the heart. If you could move to the right fast enough the bullet (in Earth guns) would just graze the skull or completely miss if it had been aimed at your head. If it had been aimed at your heart, like Gerentex had done, it would come into contact with the left shoulder, which it did. It was with a burned shoulder that Harper hit the deck, jarring his body and re- igniting the pain of every injury he had sustained. The throbbing in his shoulder was hurting so badly that he didn't even hear it when the internal defenses shot and killed the Nightsider.  
  
Even with his friends yelling his name, his head swimming, and his body aching, he felt safe and content knowing that Beka was with him. "I told you we'd make it," He mumbled to her as he surrendered to the thick darkness that was all too inviting. 


	10. Prodigy of Luck

As Harper slowly came back to the land of the living his head felt like it was weighted and the amount of pain he felt when he breathed surprised him. It was like someone was slowly crushing ever inch of his body and he wondered if something was lying on top of him. He wanted to sit up but he was too exhausted and his body didn't seem to want to listen to any of his brain's commands. He did somehow manage to pry open his eyes and saw he was laying on a bed in med-deck. Trance sleeping in a nearby chair. Beka was lying in another bed and wave of fear washed over him before he saw she was just fast asleep. It was then that he remembered everything that had happened. There weren't any sounds of blaster fire and everything seemed pretty peaceful, so he decided it was safe enough to talk.  
  
"Tran…" Was all he could make out at first. He wondered how long he'd been out since his voice felt underused.  
  
Lucky for him his purple pixie had good hearing.  
  
"Harper is that you?" She asked yawning, not really believing it.  
  
"Na, you're just dreamin' 'bout me," He replied, drunk on his own happiness at seeing her okay.  
  
"You're awake! How do you feel?"  
  
"Like a Magog's laying on me," He said hoarsely, wondering why his voice still wasn't working quite right. "What happened?"  
  
"Don't you remember? You got shot, silly."  
  
"I know *that* Trance. I mean, who or how or what got the core A.I. back up?"  
  
"You should really go to sleep. You need your rest. Besides, you don't want to wake Beka. She hasn't left your side."  
  
"Oh, sorry," He said and lowered the volume of his voice considerably, "but I feel fine."  
  
"Liar, now try to rest."  
  
Harper had been with Trance long enough to recognize her sly way of avoiding a question. He raised his eyebrows and asked, "You did it, didn't you? How did you fix it?"  
  
"I, I just got lucky?"  
  
"Is that a question?"  
  
"May, ye, no. I just, um, pushed the right button." Trance left his line of sight but came back a moment later with an injection ready.  
  
"You pushed a button and it fixed it? What button?! And don't just tell me you closed your eyes and *guessed* because that's a load of bologna. You used those special powers of yours that I know you have, and don't try to deny it cause, cause, I…know…you." Harper's eyes rolled back in his head and closed.  
  
Trance pulled the needle she'd used out of Harper's arm and tossed it in the sink just as Dylan walked in.  
  
"How is he?" The captain asked.  
  
"He's going to be fine. He was just awake awhile ago but he tired himself out so fast that he just fell right back to sleep." Trance replied.  
  
Dylan smiled, "That's Harper for ya. Call me when he wakes up, okay?"  
  
"Sure," Trance said innocently.  
  
Once Dylan was gone she went back to where Harper lay and softly hummed to herself. She put her hand in front of her face and stuck her index finger up, then glanced at Beka to make sure she was still asleep. Turning back to her finger, she furrowed her brow in concentration and a moment later the tip of it started to glow. She ran her luminous finger across a gash in Harper's forehead and watched as it sealed instantly, leaving no clue that there had ever been a mark. Smiling at her work, Trance sat back down in the chair she had pulled up and waited for her blonde spitfire to wake up again.  
  
**********  
  
The End.  
  
  
  
Yeah I did it! I got it done! I think it's a lot better than the last version. How'd all of you like it? Please, please, please review if you've read it. Thanks to all of you great reviewers so far!! 


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